No water voles on Radley Brook?

Several water vole colonies feature in this blog, obviously the River Ock in Abingdon - where this blog gets its name (http://viewsoftheock.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/along-lower-ock.html), Abbey Fishponds in North East Abingdon (http://viewsoftheock.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/abbey-fishponds.html) and Radley Brook (http://viewsoftheock.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/water-voles-of-radley-brook.html), a stagnant ditch between the river Thames and Barton Fields Nature Reserve.

Most years - on Radley Brook - water voles can be heard munching on the reeds, or glimpsed amongst the foliage or even enticed out with an apple core.

But this year, there is nothing to be glimpsed along the brook

The reeds remain silent:

And the apple cores remain uneaten.

It seems to be a bad year for water voles in Abingdon...